MORE than 400 police staff may face the axe, with 250 frontline officers not replaced, under a projected £30m budget cut.

The estimated hammer blow facing North Wales Police was revealed in a financial report to the police authority, which warned up to 484 support staff could lose their jobs – almost half of the support workforce.

The report also predicts 251 police officers, expected to leave the Force over the next four years, will not be replaced.

This could leave huge gaps in policing across the region as the Coalition government cuts hit home. The axing of support staff could affect every department, from community support officers to call handlers and forensic staff.

North Wales Police, which has a core budget of £138.1m, have already announced a recruitment freeze and begun to identify where cuts can be made.

Director of Finance and Resources Mike Parkin said: “North Wales Police, along with other public bodies, will have to meet challenging budgetary savings over the coming four years.

“In the Chancellor’s emergency budget we have been told to prepare for a 25% reduction in our budgets and that is what we are doing.

“We have been preparing for this for some time and although the figures may be larger than first thought, we have a robust programme of work to transform the business and maintain as far as possible our service to the public of North Wales.

“Unfortunately, in a people focused business, jobs will always be at threat when funding is reduced.”

A 25% cut would mean finding £30.5m in savings over four years. A more specific figure will be formulated after the Coalition’s Comprehensive Spending Review on October 20.

The force believes it can reduce non-staff costs by £6m, says the report, which will be discussed by the police authority next week. They estimate a turnover of police officers of 251, leaving the remaining gap to be filled by cuts in support staff. There are currently 1,574 police officers and 1,039 support staff.

The report states: “Given that there is no mechanism for making police officers redundant, the rest of the savings will need to be made by reducing the number of support staff. In order to achieve 17-25% savings, we would need to lose between 316 and 484 support staff.”

Police authority member Peter Rogers said: “When you see the ballpark figures it is terrifying but I have been impressed at the way the police have handled this, they have hit the ground running on this and I hope this will minimise the affect on frontline services.”

Alun Lewis, chair of the North Wales Police Authority, added: “The precise picture will not be clear until after the Comprehensive Spending Review is published by the Government in the autumn. In the meantime we need to start planning on the basis of what the Government has said in relation to the expected reduction in our budgets.

“North Wales Police Authority has a strong track record of financial management and, in conjunction with the Force, we will do everything in our power to minimise the impact on frontline services.”

A source in the police said it was a very concerning time for staff as cuts in departments were already being identified.

The cost of redundancies would lie in the range of £4m to £6m.

Another issue that will be raised at the meeting today (Wednesday) will be the police helicopter. North Wales Police is currently investigating options for air cover in collaboration with neighbouring forces.